Metrics

This Corner or That? Better Site Selection Is Here with StreetLight Advanced Traffic Counts

By September 27, 2022 February 1st, 2023 No Comments
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Wondering where you should open a new retail location or which sites to prioritize in your existing portfolio? StreetLight now offers Advanced Traffic Counts for commercial real estate professionals in industries such as retail, restaurants, and electric vehicles looking to make informed site selection decisions.

StreetLight Advanced Traffic Counts is designed specifically for the commercial sector, giving you the details you need to choose new site locations or evaluate the health of existing ones. 

Here’s how it works.

StreetLight Advanced Traffic Counts offer pre-run Vehicle and Pedestrian traffic volumes for over eight million road segments in the U.S. and Canada including motorways and trunk roads, arterials, and on/off ramps for comprehensive coverage. But it doesn’t end with traffic volumes. This data is further contextualized with additional details like trip characteristics and traveler demographics so you can make much more nuanced and informed site selection decisions. 

This means that as you begin to identify the next corner for your coffee shop, convenience store, or electric vehicle (EV) charger location, you can take into consideration factors like foot traffic and car traffic, trip purpose (e.g. home-to-office vs. non-commute trips), and the overall demographics (e.g. income, education, family status, and more) of travelers passing by your potential location.

Visualization of October 2021 Traffic Volume on Road Segments in San Francisco

Going Deep – How StreetLight’s Traffic Volume Metrics Support Better Site Selection

Because our estimated traffic counts include both Vehicle and Pedestrian traffic volumes that can be broken out by time of day and day of week in the relevant month or year, retailers, real estate agencies, and other commercial customers can now more easily identify promising site locations based on both drive-by traffic and foot traffic.

That means businesses that rely on foot traffic (such as retail and restaurants) can finally get the pedestrian traffic details they need to make informed site selections, while businesses that rarely benefit from foot traffic (such as car washes) can still get comprehensive Vehicle traffic volumes for the relevant area.

Current data can also be compared to historical data to illuminate seasonal traffic trends or reveal how traffic to a location has changed over time. In other words, customers can ensure they are not making important site decisions based on out-of-date or misleading traffic counts.

Trip and Traveler Attributes Help Determine Where Demand is High

Traffic counts are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to site selection. That’s why StreetLight Advanced Traffic Counts also include trip attributes (e.g. trip speed, trip length, and trip purpose) and traveler demographics to further inform retail and corporate site selection.

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Visualization of traffic volume with trip and traveler characteristics for two locations

For example, a commercial real estate professional evaluating potential locations for a new coffee shop could zero in on road segments that morning commuters take on their way to the office. Similarly, someone looking to open up a new location for a budget-friendly grocery store chain could pinpoint road segments that are frequently used by travelers with lower incomes.

Likewise, adding the context of trip characteristics can further inform site selection. For example, traffic volume may not tell the full story for brands who rely on drivers traveling slowly enough to read their signage and turn into their location. Luckily, with StreetLight Advanced Traffic Counts, these customers can take trip characteristics like speed into consideration to ensure the traffic at the site they select isn’t speeding by too quickly to bring in business.

Ensuring Reliable Data for Confident Site Selection Decisions

We’ve already discussed how StreetLight Advanced Traffic Counts allow commercial customers to access current and historical data for a full-picture view of potential site locations. But how reliable are the Metrics we provide?

Our data validation processes for StreetLight Advanced Traffic Counts follow the same trusted methodology used for StreetLight InSight®, Metrics are validated against permanent traffic counters and by transportation industry professionals.

Every month, we ingest, index, and process vast amounts of location data from connected devices and the Internet of Things, then add context from numerous other sources like parcel data and digital road network data to develop a view into North America’s vast network of roads, bike lanes, and sidewalks.

So the next time you’re looking to prioritize existing sites in your portfolio or find the perfect spot for a new store, restaurant, or EV charging station, StreetLight Advanced Traffic Counts can help. To explore subscription options and get a more complete picture for your next site selection, simply click the banner below to get started.